Tune Of The Day: Best Of 2020

We all know that 2020 was a horrible year in so many ways!!

But we want to show you some of the positive things that happened where you as a reader all made an impact, great comments, nice emails even a few text and phonecalls. As always in December we get into the tedious task of listing our favorite albums of the year. You have seen them all now, a total summary can be read below. So that you know it was really hard to make that final list, the bands have changed the position more than once, but hey “a man gotta do what a man gotta do”. I know I have excluded many good releases, as far as I can see is that the box with Vinyl with unplayed records are more only half full, shame on me, but I have played more records than ever latly, which has been a lot of fun and educational. Thinking mostly about that extravagance to try other styles and learn more about it. Has been a lot of Jazz lately privately, has not played that much over here, maybe some will come here of what I found that will suit this forum.

It’s also the time for me to do a little retrospective of this year for me and Tune Of The Day.

We reached 501 followers on Facebook, kinda cool but hey I wish it would be more, so hit like for god's sake. We have made a little over 4808 posts, that's pretty much, but it's since the start in 2007 I guess it's pretty valid. 3191090 hits on the site, cruel! Have added 2080 tunes to the Tune Of The Day playlist on Spotify, which means 160 hrs 41 min play time, haha. And yes I have been pretty lazy to update Spotify with the latest tune, will fix it soon, I promise.

2020 has been a shitty year work-wise, only a few projects have been done, a few of concerts before the freaking pandemi, no festivals, no travels, no hotels, no buses, no trains etc. No photo of the years working "passes"

My biggest aim for 2021 is to get some work, hopefully I find something in the Music business.

Some thoughts about the Top 50 album list. First of all, I have to say that a physical copy of the album is a requirement for joining the list, no record no place on the list. And as I only play Vinyl can make things hard for some band to even get a position, but these days most bands release their creations on the only format.

2020’s lineup is very strong on its own. Many great releases, from successful bands to new discoveries on the musical map. Here is the full lineup. 15 of them are Swedish :)

Tune Of The Day - Top 50 - 2020

50. DEFTONES - Ohms
49. PEARL JAM - Gigaton
48. ELDER - Omens
47. DOPELORD - Sign Of The Devil
46. BLACK CROWN INITIATE - Violent Portraits Of Doomed Escape
45. THE OCEAN - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic / Cenozoic
44. ENSLAVED - Utgard
43. HEXVESSEL - Kindred
42. MYRKUR - Folkesange
41. MY DYING BRIDE - The Ghost Of Orion

40. TESTAMENT - Titans Of Creation
39. SPIRIT ADRIFT - Enlightened In Eternity
38. LUCIFER - III
37. KADAVAR - The Isolation Tapes
36. ULVER - Flowers Of Evil
35. KVELERTAK - Splid
34. FLUISTERAARS - Bloem
33. KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD - K.G.
32. ACID MAMMOTH - Under Acid Hoof
31. LAMB OF GOD - Lamb Of God

30. MOLASSESS - Through The Hollow
29. PSYCHOTIC WALTZ - The God-Shaped Void
28. KRYPTOGRAF - Kryptograf
27. SVARTKONST - Black Waves
26. H.E.A.T - II
25. ALL THEM WITCHES - Nothing As The Ideal
24. MINDCRAWLER - Lost Orbiter
23. AC/DC - Power Up
22. KATLA - Allt þetta Helvítis Myrkur
21. Ozzy Osbourne - Ordinary Man

20. BLUES PILLS - Holy Moly!
19. GAUPA - Feberdröm
18. DARK TRANQUILLITY - Moment
17. THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA - Aeromantic
16. HÄLLAS - Conundrum
15. HIGH SPIRITS - Hard To Stop
14. SÓLSTAFIR - EndlessTwilight Of Codependent Love
13. DRACONIAN - Under A Godless Veil
12. BÜTCHER - 666 Goats Carry My Chariot
11. KVAEN - The Funeral Pyre

10. DEMONIC DEATH JUDGE - The Trail
09. LOWRIDER - Refractions
08. LIK - Misanthropic Breed
07. NECROPHOBIC - Dawn Of The Damned
06. ELEPHANT TREE - Habits
05. PARADISE LOST - Obsidian
04. DOOL - Summerland
03. PALLBEARER - Forgotten Days
02. Jonathan Hultén - Chants From Another Place
01. KATATONIA - City Burials

Honorable mentions:
ETERNAL CHAMPION - Ravening Iron, IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT – Alphaville, Marilyn Manson - We Are Chaos, BLACK CURSE - Endless Wound HORISONT - Sudden Death, NOVARUPA - Marine Snow, NIGHT - High Tides, NITE - Darkness Silence Mirror Flame, GATHERING OF KINGS - Discovery, DYNAZTY - The Dark Delight, Henrik Palm - Poverty Metal, ENVY - The Fallen Crimson MR BUNGLE - The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny Demo, FORMING THE VOID - Reverie, KONVENT - Puritan Masochism, DEEP PURPLE - Whoosh!, Biff Byford - School Of Hard Knocks, THE SMASHING PUMPKINS - CYR, SKELETAL REMAINS - The Entombment Of Chaos, OKKULTOKRATI - La Ilden Lyse, HAKEN - Virus, WHITE STONES - Kuarahy, Jesper Binzer - Save Your Soul, TOMBS - Under Sullen Skies, MAGNUM - The Serpent Rings, Brant Björk - Brant Björk, CIRITH UNGOL - Forever Black, DEAD LORD - Surrender, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT - The Symbol Remains, BLAZE OF PERDITION - The Harrowing Of Hearts, VAMPIRE - Rex, PSYCHONAUT - Unfold The God Man, RYTE - Ryte, GRIFT - Budet, SLIFT - Ummon, SPELL - Opulent Decay, MOTORPSYCHO - The All Is One, FISH - Weltscherz, AND OCEANS - Cosmic World Mother, DEMONICAL - World Domination, AGES - Uncrown, MIDNIGHT - Rebirth By Blasphemy, MÖRK GRYNING - Hinsides Vrede, OCEANS OF SLUMBER - Oceans Of Slumber, ANAAL NATHRAKH - Endarkenment, HEX AD - Astro Tongue In The Electric Garden, MAGGOT HEART - Mercy Machine, VALKYRIE - Fear, FAMILIARS - All In Good Time, PSYCHLONA - Venus Skytrip, DAILY THOMPSON - Oumuamua, SIENA ROOT - The Secret Of Our Time, CAUSA SUI - Sbozadelico

Haha, that was a long list of Honours, but all these are excellent ones that never got enough attention and just slipped out from the list, a few of the albums that have been played on the digital media but never really got a chance to get a spin on the real media "Vinyl" and still stands on high heels in the box on the floor, and a bunch of them are still on my "to-buy" list and wait that the account is filled up to be ready to be bought, sorry guys if my rules are tough, but rules are rules even if you have made them yourself.

Regarding albums, yes, I am still using the best tool for my records "Discogs", I just love it!! But hey, it's pretty dangerous surfing around, always end with a newly purchased record. Even if my best friend "Discogs" is around, I still have bought a few records twice, or even three times bah! And even if this have been a really shitty year, many records have entered my home during 2020. How many, well we keep that as a secret, I think that's the best way to do it, as I know deep inside that I have burned my budget more than once already :)

Well, that's it for today, we wish you all a Happy new year!

112 339 minutes with Spotify, haha spend more time with Spotify than my wife and Beck is my best pal. That overruns the Vinyl spins a lot. But hey, music is my life.

Here is the list of my top tunes 2020, check it up.

Best Album

KATATONIA - City Burials

Best Swedish Death/Black Metal Album

LIK - Misanthropic Breed

Best Swedish Rock

GAUPA - Feberdröm

Best Swedish Stoner/Sludge/Doom/Heavy Rock Album

LOWRIDER - Refractions

Best Progressive Metal Album

PARADISE LOST - Obsidian

Best Swedish Metal Album

KATATONIA - City Burials

Best Black/Core/Melodic/Death Metal Album

NECROPHOBIC - Dawn Of The Damned

Best Rock Album

HIGH SPIRITS - Hard To Stop

Best Hard Rock/Prog Rock Album

HÄLLAS - Conundrum

Best Stoner/Sludge/Heavy Rock Album

DEMONIC DEATH JUDGE - The Trail

Best Doom Album

PALLBEARER - Forgotten Days

Best Speed/Thrash Album

BÜTCHER - 666 Goats Carry My Chariot

Best Live Album

KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD ‎– Live In San Francisco '16

Best Mixed Style Album

Emma Ruth Rundle & THOU – May Our Chambers Be Full

Best Tune 2020

Jonathan Hultén - Where Devils Weep

Best Cover

”Patience” - Chris Cornell

Best Debut Album

KVAEN - The Funeral Pyre

Best Surprise Album 2020

PSYCHONAUT - Unfold The God Man

A brutal and kick-ass album that came to my knowledge

too late to grab a place on the top 50 album list.

Best Reissue

Tom Petty - Wildflowers

Best Modern Folk/Americana etc

Bonny Light Horsemen - Bonny Light Horsemen

Best Singer Songwriter

Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters

Best Country/Americana

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Reunions

Best Jazz

Miles Davis - Double Image

Worst Album 2020

BON JOVI - 2020

A cheesy Jon Bon Jovi solo album, AVOID this!

Best Female Vocal Performance:

Emma Näslund - GAUPA

Best Male Vocal Performance:

Jonathan Hultén

Best Festival 2020 Non

Best Live Show - 2020

Haha, funny guy... well, I actually have seen one

really good show and that was with Sturgill Simpson

at Vasateatern in Stockholm on Jan 22, 2020

Best Color Album Cover Art

OCEANS OF SLUMBER - Oceans Of Slumber

Artwork by Giannis Nakos

Best Black & White Album Cover Art

ULVER - Flowers Of Evil

Cover art – a still image of actress Renée Jeanne Franconetti having her head shaved during her 1928 performance in the titular role of Carl Theodor Dreyer’s La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc

Best Tour Poster - FOO FIGHTERS

Live in Detroit (Cancelled Show, thanks Covid!) - Poster by Dave Kloc

Best Art 2020 - Street Art - Mouse house in Lund

Amazing work!

Best T-Shirt 2020 - KOSMIK BOOGIE TRIBE

Borrowed my buddy Linus's picture.

Best Movie

Soul

Best Whiskey

Macallan 15 Year Old Triple Cask

Best Beer

Nils Oscar - India Ale

A great gluten-free option. Light-amber in color and slightly hazy,

this IPA is really wonderful. Talk about superb balance and craftsmanship!

Aromas of toasty malts and earthy, lightly citrusy that curls in the mouth.

Best Musical Blog/VC/Site

Mazzy (Norman Maslov).

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrMDWzUugDhKpBe4MgPiJ1A

This Year's most "in-active" concert-goer: LG-Petrov (Same procedure as last year even if he didn't go on so many shows 2020 as he has been batteling against cancer, Fuck Cancer!)

Best Musical Country 2020 - America

In a politically divided country where the election, the pandemic and "Black lives matter" created an extreme situation. Music vise the country has a really broad spectrum, with album released with bands like the thrash metal band TESTAMENT, doom rockers PALLBEARER, heavy metal rap band BODY COUNT, alternative metal band DEFTONES, rockers PEARL JAM, the one and only OZZY among many others.